SMC is accustomed to these David and Goliath scenarios

Sunday

Jun 8, 2014 at 12:01 AM

By DANNY PHILBECKFor the Herald-journal

More than 100 years ago, the Rev. Dr. David English Camak, a Methodist minister, had a vision to improve the lives of the men and women living and working in Saxon Mill Village near Spartanburg. His goal was to provide an education that would enlighten textile workers and enable them to overcome the social forces that threatened their lives and future generations.Camak believed these young men and women were ambitious and, with the right training and encouragement, had the potential to become influential leaders in their community and industry.Today, Spartanburg Methodist College continues to believe in the same vision and values, which served as guiding principles and the foundation for the college more than 103 years ago. SMC is a special place of discovery, exciting possibilities and caring encouragement, where every student has an opportunity to be their best and the inspiration to do great things.During the 2013-2014 academic year, in addition to being among the strongest academic colleges in South Carolina, SMC has achieved unparalleled athletic successes. We have sixteen athletic teams on our campus. Nine of them advanced to national championship play.Can you imagine a two-year college of 800 students being this successful on the national stage?Just recently, Spartanburg Methodist College's baseball team competed in the National Junior College Athletic Association Baseball World Series in Grand Junction, Colo. This was our third team in three years to make it to Grand Junction.Head Baseball Coach and Athletic Director Tim Wallace has taken seven of his teams to Colorado since 2001. While there on this year's trip, Coach Wallace was also inducted into the NJCAA Baseball Coaches Hall of Fame. He is the youngest coach in NJCAA history to reach 1,000 wins during his career. His Hall of Fame induction is a richly deserved honor!There were nine other colleges competing in Colorado for the national championship. The lowest enrollment of those colleges was 1,730, and the most was 165,000. Here we are with 800 students, competing on the biggest stage with other colleges that dwarf us in size, facilities and enrollment.Whenever I am able to attend these national tournaments, I make it my mission to tell as many folks as possible there how small of an enrollment we have. I do it just to see the looks on their faces. They realize what a remarkable job we are doing when they see our teams play and when I tell them our about academic successes as well. Did you know that 85 percent of our students transfer on to complete their education after starting their higher education with us (vs. the national average of 20 percent)?We understand that every time we compete in national competition, we are in David vs. Goliath territory. But honestly, our student athletes come to SMC because they know our reputation, so they expect that they will play on the national stage at some point during their two years with us. Most of the honor graduates at the college each year are athletes, a fact that very few people realize. This truly is a special college.Everyone at Spartanburg Methodist College would like to thank the Spartanburg Community for all of its support through the years. We couldn't be as successful as we are without Spartanburg. Of course, if you feel compelled to send us some support to pay for all this national travel, we are not too proud to accept it (actually we would be eternally grateful). God bless you, Spartanburg!!Danny Philbeck is vice president of Spartanburg Methodist College.

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